The Gulf Watch Alaska (GWA) program and Principal Investigators (PIs) continued with their research and monitoring during this first quarter of FY21. February 1 marked the beginning of the final year of the Trustee Council’s FY17-21 five-year funding cycle. FY21 marks the tenth year of monitoring under the GWA program. All hands were on deck this quarter as the program focused on completing annual reports and submitting a proposal package to the Trustee’s Invitation for Long-Term Research and Monitoring focus area. This Invitation potentially paves the way for an additional ten years (FY22-31) of research and monitoring, an unprecedented opportunity to better understand long-term impacts of the
Exxon Valdez oil spill on injured resources and ecosystem health in a changing environment.

A brief summary of our program’s first quarter activities and accomplishment can be found in the latest issue of the GWA Quarterly Currents (vol 5.1).